Your brand colours say a lot about your business.
Colours can evoke different feelings in people.and can visually speak to your customers and set the scene about you and your business.
They can reinforce how a product or a brand is viewed. For example, think of a big brand that wants to be seen as a dependable, trustworthy company and you’ll usually see them using blue in their brand colours.
Here are some examples of what colours can convey:
Yellow – optimism, clarity, warmth
This is the most luminous colour in the spectrum and is seen a bright, zesty, sunny and fully of optimism. It can be quite a youth focussed colour too. Some of the compnaies using predominently yellow are:
- McDonalds (those golden arches)
- Pokemon
- Post-it
- Chupa Chups
- Schweppes
Orange – friendly, cheerful, confidence
This colour can symbolise engery, warmth and good health. It can be a nit of a love it or hate it colour and can work well for an extroverted or adventurous company. Some examples of compnaies using orange in their logos are:
- Mastercard
- Fanta
- Nickelodeon
- Harley Davidson
Red – excitement, youthful, bold
Red can be a colour of extremes and can cary from love and passion to anger and hate. It is often used as a colour to capture our attention – think of traffic lights, stop signs. Here are a few companies using red in their logos:
- Netflix
- Lego
- Coca Cola
- Nontendo
Purple – creative, imaginative, wise
My personal fave – it can be associated with power (think of the roman emperors) and to some degree, glamour too. It can be a very bold colour but can also be quite soft, when pastel. Here are some purple brands, apart from Plumb Digital:
- Cadbury
- Monster jobs
- Zoopla
- Wonka
Blue – trust, dependable, strength
Blue is a very common choice for brands I can convey quite a wide range from trustworthyness to stregth to calmness. You find blue in many logos of companies in the technology sector. Again this is another colour that can be quite soft in pastel shades and conveys cuteness and babylike. Here are a few differents brands using blue:
- American Express
- Alexa
- Facebook (and now Meta)
- Fortnite
Green – peaceful, growth, hope
Green is a very positve colour and pften associated with nature, evoking images lush green grass of forests. It is now very often used to try and show a sustainable side to a business. Here are a few green brands:
- Spotify
- The Body Shop
- Heineken
- Starbucks
Grey – balance, neutral, calm
Grey can be considered to be timeless and quite classic, almost like an black and white movie. It is also on the practical side of colours. It’s quite often paired with another bolder colour. Here are some examples:
- Apple
- Nissan
- WordPress
White – simplicity, purity, perfection
The white of a logo is more often then not the text or graphical part on top of a colour block background. Using bold white on a string colour can really stand out but also be sharp, perfect and clean. Here are a few examples:
- Mini
- The North Face
- Crocs
- Tesla
There are pleny of other colours in there too like brown (reliablilty, support dependability) or black (sophistication, exclusivity, clamour) . They all speak to your audience but they should also speak to you.
When I was setting up Plumb Digital I wanted to steer away from purple because my handmade business is purple. But, and thi is the big old but, I like purple. I tried a few other colours and they just didn’t grab me in the same what that purple does. It actuallt means more to me than the other colours did. And people who knoe me, know that I’m a sucker for purple.
So, if you’re thinking about branding for your business, theink about what all these colours convey to your peontial customers but also how the colours fits with you and your brand.
Where can I find out more?
I also have a free support Facebook group called GET DIGITAL where you can ask questions and engage with other female business owners. It’s a safe place and no question is too daft!